Sunday, May 8, 2022

Spinach, Feta, & Egg White Wrap for breakfast at Starbucks

Happy Sunday! Before heading to the 9:00 AM Mass, we went to Starbucks to enjoy their butter croissant and a tall mocha.


Butter Croissant and Tall Mocha from Starbucks

After Mass, we walked across Burrard Bridge to the Starbucks close to BC Place and grabbed a couple Spinach, Feta, & Egg White Wrap and a Trenta Iced Black Tea.


Spinach, Feta, and Egg White Wrap and a Trenta Iced Black Tea from Starbucks

I'm always happy to get free food and drinks from Starbucks.

Saturday, May 7, 2022

Mother's Day Dinner Celebration at Dai Jang Kum

Happy Mother's Day, Mama and to all moms. Our Mama loves Korean cuisine, so we went to Dai Jang Kum for dinner this year.

Hubby and I are calorie-counting and have been consistently and slowly losing weight. Still, we know tonight's dinner will be our ultimate pigout for the next two weeks (until our youngest sister's birthday weekend celebration). However, we still want to lose weight, so hubby made me walk with him to Running Room (2 kilometres) in the morning to pick up his socks and shirt. We also walked back home and had a low-calorie breakfast and lunch.

Before heading to dinner, we walked to the Broadway City Hall Canada Line station and then to The Source in Richmond Center to pick up my new Chromebook (where I'm writing this post). Then, we headed to Dai Jang Kum.

Mother's Day Dinner at Dai Jang Kum

We arrived 10 minutes before 5:00 PM without any reservations because no one picked up the phone when I called last week. The front staff said we could have dinner, but it must be finished by 6:20 PM. So I informed my mom and siblings and told them I would order our usual.

Half of Combo A for 3 in the Grill
Combo A is a combination platter of BBQ meats, including chicken, beef, beef short ribs and pork, and it includes steamed rice, salad, and side dishes (banchan).

Half of Combo A for 3 in the Plate

Our standard order includes Combo A. When my mom and three siblings arrived at the restaurant, the grill was already hard at work. This would allow us to eat sooner and be finished before 6:20 PM.

Japchae and Seafood Pancake are Korean dishes we absolutely always order, and Dai Jang prepares them deliciously. My mom's favourite dish is the japchae. She'll be happy with just the noodle dish.

Japchae
Stir-fried sweet potato noodles with sliced beef and vegetables

Seafood Pancake

Our youngest sister almost ate one serving of the Pan-Fried Dumplings from the appetizers menu, and it tasted better than I remember.

Pan-Fried Dumplings

To try something new, I ordered Kimbap, and it's definitely worth trying.

Kimbap
Rice rolled in laver with seasoned vegetables and beef fillings.


We asked Mama what she wanted for Mother's Day gift. She said that she wished for Leni Robredo to win the Philippine election. Unfortunately, all her kids are already Canadian Citizens and can't vote, so my hubby, me, and my three younger siblings wore pink today to support Leni Robredo and make my mom happy.

For Mother's Day gift, our youngest sister (the thoughtful lady that she is) gave Mama a greeting card which made her tear up. Meanwhile, I ordered flowers for delivery. Then, our younger sister purchased chocolates (which she ate, haha) and a greeting card with sounds. Lastly, our brother spent quality time with Mama watching the Korean shows she likes.

For future me and maybe my mom will be interested to know too (since she's one of the two people who consistently read my blog), here's a list of how we celebrated mother's day in the past years.
  • 2022 (this year) - Dine-In at Dai Jang Kum
  • 2021 - Lunch Delivery from SURA Korean BBQ (Hazelbridge location)
  • 2020 - Lunch Delivery from Sumi Korean Restaurant
  • 2019 - Breakfast Delivery from McDonald's and Lunch at Masa Japanese Restaurant
  • 2018 - Lunch at Dai Jang Kum
  • 2017 - Lunch at Dai Jang Kum
  • 2016 - Ice cream cake surprise from Marble Slam Creamery (I didn't have a full-time job yet during Mother's Day and was working as a temporary part-time cashier at BC Place, and all we could afford was an ice cream cake for Mama)
  • 2015 and 2014 - I was alone in the Philippines and couldn't celebrate Mother's Day with Mama because she was already in Canada with the rest of the family.
  • 2013 - 3-Day 2-Night Trip to Cebu with Mama and my two younger sisters. I didn't even know this would be the last Mother's Day we would celebrate in the Philippines.
Those are the Mother's Day that I have documented since Android phones became a thing.

Happy Mother's Day, Mama! We hope you had fun today spending time with your three daughters, only son, and only son-in-law. We hope your tummy is full, but more importantly, I pray that your heart is filled with love. Thank you for being our constant prayer warrior and always thinking of us. We love you very much. Don't forget that God will always provide. Can't wait to celebrate your birthday next month!

Thursday, May 5, 2022

Cinco de Mayo: Burrito, Nachos, and Tortilla Soup from Loz Takos

It's the 5th year in a row that we enjoyed Mexican-inspired food at Cinco de Mayo (May 5).

  • 2018 - We had nachos, quesadilla, burrito, and churros from Sal y Limon on Kingsway Avenue.
  • 2019 - We had nachos, tacos, and churros from Tacofino Taco Bar in Gastown.
  • 2020 - We had nachos, quesadilla, burrito, and churros from Las Margaritas in Kitsilano delivered at our home.
  • 2021- We had nachos, quesadilla, burrito, and churros from Salsa and Agave in Yaletown delivered at our home.
We originally had planned to dine in at one of the many restaurants that serve Mexican cuisine in Vancouver. However, it was raining quite hard, and our plans kept on changing throughout the day, so we ended up looking at DoorDash and choosing Loz Takos.

We're pretty consistent with our orders, but I'm dropping quesadilla because I can make it at home.

Lunch from Loz Takos

Munchie: Nachos

The nachos were fair, and having stale chips didn't help. Though, soft chips soaked in cheese were helpful for my gums.

Tortilla Soup with Chips

This is my first time trying tortilla soup, and I am uncertain what to expect. There's a scoop of what I think is guacamole in the middle of it could be green peppers.

Asada de Res (Grilled Steak) Burrito

Asada de Res (Grilled Steak) Burrito

Hubby and I are still on a calorie-counted diet, so we're sharing the Asada de res (grilled steak) burrito. The burrito was good. The steak was a bit dry, but overall a good filling burrito.

Churrito

It's pretty hard to go wrong with a churro, and I am satisfied with this one. Although, I don't know why Loz Takos calls it churrito because it's not as small as we thought it would be.

I haven't been this food coma in a long time.

Sunday, May 1, 2022

New York Cheesecake from Trees Cheesecake + Organic Coffee | BMO Vancouver Marathon Series

Happy Sunday! My husband ran the half-marathon during the BMO Vancouver Marathon today. Congratulations, love!


1st Post in the series: Breakfast at Starbucks
2nd Post in the series: Lunch at Lin Chinese Cuisine


After our delicious lunch at Lin Chinese Cuisine, we walked to Trees Cheesecake + Organic Coffee even though we have already tried the available seasonal flavour

We ordered one of their Signature Cheesecake Flavours during this visit and chose the New York, and I ordered a Dragonwell green tea.

New York Cheesecake from Trees Cheesecake + Organic Coffee

We enjoyed our cheesecake and sat there for a couple hours just talking. I fell in love with my husband again. This is one of my favourite activities with him, sitting in a coffee shop and just talking about anything and everything. Thank God for blessing me with such an excellent life partner and friend.

Lunch at Lin Chinese Cuisine | BMO Vancouver Marathon Series

Happy Sunday! My husband ran the half-marathon during the BMO Vancouver Marathon today. Congratulations, love!

1st Post of the Series: Breakfast at Starbucks



When I arrived near the finish line area, there were a lot of people - runners and people cheering for them. I waited about an hour before seeing my husband cross the finish line. Woohoo! I'm so happy to see him finish in one piece. I always get paranoid (I blame the 2013 Boston Marathon incident) that something will happen, so I am so grateful to God that he finished and he did well.

BMO Vancouver Marathon 2022

FedEx ruined my Sunday.

We ordered a Dyson PH03 Purifier Humidify + Cool Air Purifier with HEPA Filter - White/Silver from Best Buy. According to the tracking number, it will arrive on Monday, which is well and good because we work from home. However, while waiting for my husband near the finish line, I received a call from FedEx.

Our package is already there. I told the delivery person we were not home and asked if he could come back tomorrow. Then, I received a picture - the package was in front of our apartment building in an unsecured area where it could get stolen anytime. I was freaking out. This Dyson PH03 is the single most expensive appliance/furniture we own, and it's just sitting there! Yes, we're frugal with things we use at home and generally buy affordable items.

I found my husband in Portal Park. I informed him of the situation with FedEx,   and we decided to go straight home. We originally planned to enjoy food from the different food trucks at the Street Festival and slowly walk home. Instead, we walked to the bus stop and took a bus home. Thankfully, our package is still there, but we missed the opportunity to enjoy and eat at the Street Festival organized by the Downtown Vancouver BIA. I was upset at FedEx for ruining the Sunday I had planned.

We rested for a few minutes at home and decided to have lunch at Lin Chinese Cuisine.

Lunch at Lin Chinese Cuisine

We decided on Lin Chinese Cuisine because we want hubby to eat carbs, so noodles seem to be a good option, and we haven't been here since December.

We're also starting our own "Support Broadway Businesses" initiative where we either dine-in or order to go from restaurants along West Broadway. A lot of them are affected by the construction of the train line.

We ordered two noodle dishes and Xiao Long Bao.

Tan Tan noodle soup with minced meat

Noodle soup with pork chop

Xiao Long Bao (Shanghai juicy pork dumplings)

After enjoying our carbo-loaded lunch, hubby requested that we have desserts, and that will be on my next post.

Butter Croissant from Starbucks | BMO Vancouver Marathon Series

Happy Sunday! My husband ran the half-marathon during the BMO Vancouver Marathon today. Congratulations, love!

He left our home at 6:30 AM, walked to the train station, and to Queen Elizabeth Park, where the starting line is.

I left at around 8:30 AM and started my almost 6km walk to the finish line. On the way, I grabbed my free butter croissant and mocha drink from Starbucks.

Free Starbucks

Butter Croissant

I enjoyed my breakfast while walking to Downtown Vancouver across Burrard Bridge.

Flowers near the Seaforth Armory

View from Burrard Bridge

It's a cloudy and cool day. I will continue with what happened today in the next post.

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